Introduction: During root-end cavity preparation, thermal changes may occur on the external surface of the root which may cause injury to the periodontium.
Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate thermal changes during ultrasonic retrograde cavity preparation using smooth stainless steel or diamond coated ultrasonic tips.
Methods: Root-end section level was set at 3 mm from the apex, and all the roots were resected with 90-degree angle to their longitudinal axis. Samples were randomly divided into two groups of 10 teeth each for two different ultrasonic tips to be used, i.e. smooth stainless steel ultrasonic tip and diamond coated ultrasonic tip. Teflon insulated type K temperature probe were used to measure temperature changes during the root-end cavity preparations.
Results: The temperature rise value of the overall maximum temperature (mean ± standard deviation) was significantly higher in coated group (41.11 ± 3.02) than that of the smooth group (32.22 ± 2.44). A statistically significant difference was observed between both groups (P < 0.0001).
Conclusion: Temperature rise is significantly higher while using diamond coated retrotips.